1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved brassiere having adjustable breast covering or cup portions, and more particularly to a brassiere having cup portions formed of at least two panels of material which are distensible substantially in one direction only, and which direction of distensibility changes or varies with respect to each other along an arcuate line of engagement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with improvements in brassiere or bra constructions, and heretofore various means of adjusting the cup size portions of brassieres were known. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that having means located between the two cup portions which gather and urge downwardly the material therebetween to change the shape and size of the cup portions is conventional, but have distinct disadvantages such as loss of shaping and support, and extensive bagging of material, at various degrees of adjustment. In prior art adjustable cup size brassieres, the breast engaging pockets are made of materials which are not substantially stretchable, expandable, or distensible and therefore cause extensive changes in the degree of support and smoothness of the cup portions as such materials are gathered during cup size adjustment.
Various constructions for adjusting the cup size and shape of a brassiere have heretofore been tried with a central adjusting means. In non-adjustable cup size brassieres a stretchable or expandable fabric has been used as a cup-forming fabric. Such prior art brassieres may be exemplified by the following U.S. patents:
GUIDONI--U.S. Pat. No. 4,031,900 PA1 GUBERMAN, et al--U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,341 PA1 COUSINS--U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,241 PA1 SLOATE--U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,853 PA1 DUGAN--U.S. Pat. No. 3,093,137 PA1 SCHACHT--U.S. Pat. No. 2,484,467 PA1 GLASSER--U.S. Pat. No. 2,296,343 PA1 CUNNINGHAM--U.S. Pat. No. 1,718,033 PA1 HUNAU--U.S. Pat. No. Re. 24,640 PA1 LAPCHIN--French Pat. No. 46,978.
and the following French patent:
The above-listed patents show a variety of ways in which breast cups, and the like, may be adjustable, or show the use, in some instances, of stretchable material that is distensible in all directions. However, none of the prior art patents, taken singly or in combination, show the use of a breast cup having at least two panels in engagement with one another along a substantial portion of each, and which panels are made of a material substantially distensible in one direction only. The patent issued to GUIDONI shows the use of a central means for gathering fabric, thereby changing the overall size of the cup portions, but shows only a single piece of fabric which is stretchable in all directions, and, therefore, does not offer structural support and shaping aspects during adjustment.
The patents issued to COUSINS, DUGAN and SLOATE all show brassieres of non-distensible or non-stretchable fabric comprising the cup portions, and the other prior art patents do not show a combination of distensible fabric in connection with breast cup size and/or shape adjustment.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate, and, as will be explained below in greater detail, the prior art does not include an adjustable cup brassiere utilizing at least two panels of material distensible substantially in one direction only.